Hot temps, cool concepts: How we’re helping keep patients cool as we work towards net-zero

We’re working with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust to help improve staff and patient comfort through a 15-year energy efficiency partnership, that will help the hospital deliver its ambitious environmental targets of achieving net zero carbon operations for a heating and cooling system emissions by 2040.

Working alongside Wilmott Dixon and Acorn Aluminium, huge progress has already been made in replacing the 12,000 single glazed windows at the 38-acre Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) campus – that’s 18,000m² of windows equivalent to the size of two football pitches! This will significantly improve energy efficiency by reducing heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter, as well as improving comfort on the wards for patients, visitors and staff alike.

Work is also underway to renovate the energy systems and reduce emissions through the installation of a renewable geothermal heating and cooling system. At the heart of this state-of-the-art project will be a new £15m energy centre housing four high-efficiency heat pumps that will extract heat from the air and also draw from the natural warmth of the earth. To do that, we’ve drilled 64 boreholes descending up to 250 metres under the ground which will in future provide the hospital with a sustainable low carbon energy source.

This innovative heat pump and borehole solution will cut carbon emissions associated with the heating and cooling by more than 40% and will help to improve Nottingham’s air quality by reducing nitrogen oxide emissions. The project demonstrates that working to net zero can also have a direct benefit on people who work, visit and stay at the hospital.